Stapleford Tawney, Essex, United Kingdom
EGSG
Stapleford Flight Centre
- ATO GBR.ATO.0201 · UK CAAVerified
Family-run modular school at Stapleford Aerodrome in Essex, on the north-east edge of London, founded in 1969. All training happens on one airfield, with residential ATPL theory and on-site student rooms. It publishes a dated, itemised 2026 price list for every step from PPL to instrument rating, plus multi-crew and instructor courses. Licences are UK CAA, with EASA options listed as extras.
ICAO
EGSG
Runway
03R/21L
Length
1,059 m
Elevation
183 ft
- Roots since
- 1969
- Programmes
- 11
- From
- €2k
Overview
Regulatory approval
ATO GBR.ATO.0201
UK CAA — EASA Part-FCL
Information completeness
83%
10 of 12 topics documented
Verification coverage
12%
3 verified · 23 school · 0 unconfirmed
Student review score
None yet
Only verified students can review. We never write reviews ourselves.
These measure how much is documented — not how good the school is.
Head of the family business
Pamela Chicken
Head of Training
Colin Dobney
Chief Flying Instructor
Mark Cozzolino
Chief Theoretical Knowledge Instructor
Shaun Eason
Ownership & campus
Family-run under Pamela Chicken, daughter of founder John Chicken.
In numbers
Who says what. Where sources disagree we show each figure side by side.
Graduate employers
Graduates reported at Ryanair, British Airways, easyJet, Jet2 and Wizz Air
No airline agreement is published; the site says it works with and endorses Jet2.
Fleet size
33 aircraft in 2015
Latest published count; the current fleet page lists types only.
Training programmes
11 programmes documented from the school's own pages.
Modular route to a frozen ATPL
Students who want to train step by step at one airfield, paying per course.
You finish with
- UK CAA CPL(A) with ME/IR
- ATPL theory credit (frozen ATPL)
No package price is published; each step is priced separately (1 April 2026 list). Route one (CPL before IR): PPL £9,600, about 130 h hour building £21,320, night rating £1,650, ATPL theory £7,250, CPL 25 h £8,265, MEP £4,044, CB IR 35 h £16,505, skill-test aircraft hire £3,029. Route two (IR before CPL): about 86 h hour building £14,104, CB IR 45 h £19,455, CPL 15 h £5,250; other items as route one. Fees are based on minimum hours; landing fees, examiner, CAA and licence fees, medical and accommodation are extra.
School's pageAircraft fleet
Tecnam
P2008 JC
2 seats
Cessna
152
2 seats
Piper
PA-28 Warrior
4 seats
Piper
PA-28R Arrow
4 seats · Used for the CPL
Slingsby
T67M260 Firefly
2 seats · Aerobatic aircraft for UPRT and spinning
Diamond
DA42 Twin Star
4 seats · MEP and instrument rating
Simulators
Alsim ALX medium-jet simulator (MCC/JOC) · 2 Alsim AL42 FNPT II simulators (DA42)
Airfield & campus
Runway data from OurAirports — unconfirmed until checked against the national AIP.
Stapleford Aerodrome
Only base: ground school, flight training, simulators and student accommodation
- ICAO
- EGSG
- Elevation
- 183 ft
- Runway
- 03R/21L
- Length × width
- 1,059 × 46 m
- Surface
- other
- Runway
- 03L/21R
- Length × width
- 1,001 × 46 m
- Surface
- Grass
- Runway
- 10/28
- Length × width
- 656 × 46 m
- Surface
- Grass
Airfield
Grass runways with an asphalt insert on the main runway; Stapleford Flight Centre also runs the aerodrome administration
Clubhouse
On-site clubhouse and student accommodation
Student accommodation on campus
Single ensuite rooms in three blocks on the airfield, with shared kitchens and Wi-Fi: £210 a week for full-time students or £40 a night, payable a month in advance (April 2026 price list).
Stapleford Aerodrome, Stapleford Tawney, Essex RM4 1SJ, United Kingdom
Costs & financing
Published starting investment
From £1,795
Advanced UPRT. PPL £9,600; ATPL theory £7,250; trial lessons from £120.
Not published — ask in writing
- Exact programme price
- Accommodation and meals
- Exam and licence fees
- Extra flying hours
- Resits and retests
- Payment schedule and refunds
Financing: No lenders or scholarships are named. The school offers help applying for student loans and suggests a business plan for the bank; the PPL is 5% cheaper paid in full.
Airline connections
Formal: announced by the airline or Airbus. Reported: terms unknown. No school can guarantee a job.
Airline connections not provided yet. This does not mean the school lacks it — we have not found a reliable source.
History
Every milestone with its own source and status.
1969
Founded
John Chicken founded Stapleford Flight Centre at Stapleford Aerodrome, which has been an airfield since 1933.
School reportedStapleford · Stapleford2013
Residential ATPL theory
Full-time residential ATPL theory course launched.
UnconfirmedPilot Career News2015
ATPL theory approval
CAA approval to teach ATPL theory in-house.
UnconfirmedPilot Career News2018
APS MCC
Approved for the Airline Pilot Standards MCC course, one of the first UK schools to be.
UnconfirmedPilot Career News
Check before you pay
What the public sources don't settle — and the questions to put to the school in writing.
Things that don't line up
Not necessarily a problem — but worth asking about in writing.
Integrated course
The website still advertises a 'Jetway' integrated CPL/IR package (about 18 months, price not published), but the CAA's October 2026 list approves no integrated course for this school.
VAT
The 2024 price list said prices included VAT; the April 2026 list doesn't say. The PPL price page says its hourly rates include VAT.
Fleet
The current fleet page lists types only. The last published count was 33 aircraft in 2015; Wikipedia and AOPA say over 40. A PC-12 class rating is approved by the CAA but no PC-12 appears in the current fleet.
Accommodation price
£40 a night or £210 a week on the 2026 list; an older page still says £30 a night.
Company name
The CAA lists Stapleford Flying Club Limited; the website footer says Stapleford Flight Centre Ltd.
Ask before you pay
0 of 7 answered
Student reviews
No reviews yet. Trained here? Rate instructors, aircraft, scheduling, ground school, housing and value. Reviews are marked “verified student” only after we check evidence of training.
24 sources
Last checked 2 Nov 2026. Something wrong or out of date?
- 01UK CAA — Standards Document 31 (v222): approved training organisationsregulator · 2026-10-31
- 02Stapleford — Modular course price list (1 April 2026)school website · 2026-04-01
- 03Stapleford — PPL price listschool website
- 04Stapleford — Our fleetschool website
- 05Stapleford — Aboutschool website
- 06Stapleford — Our historyschool website
- 07Stapleford Flight Centre — official websiteschool website
- 08Stapleford — ATPL theoryschool website
- 09Stapleford — CPLschool website
- 10Stapleford — Multi-engine instrument ratingschool website
- 11Stapleford — Simulatorsschool website
- 12Stapleford — Our instructorsschool website
- 13Stapleford — Our campusschool website
- 14Stapleford — Modular brochureschool brochure · 2015-10-02
- 15Stapleford — Integrated pilot trainingschool website
- 16Pilot Career News — Stapleford ATPL theory courses approvedpress · 2015
- 17Pilot Career News — Stapleford Flight Centre articlespress
- 18Stapleford — Modular price list (October 2024)school brochure · 2024-10-01
- 19Stapleford — Student accommodation (older page)school website
- 20Stapleford — Student accommodationschool website
- 21Stapleford — MCC courseschool website
- 22Stapleford — Flight instructor courseschool website
- 23Stapleford — Multi-engine piston ratingschool website
- 24Stapleford — Funding and costsschool website
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